Top 10 Unusual Holidays Around The World

Christmas, New Year, Halloween and Easter are holidays that everyone around the world is very much familiar with. But, there are some holidays that are a bit unusual, to say the least. Below is a quick overview of the top 10 unusual holidays being celebrated around the world.

10 Night of the Radishes

Night of the Radishes is held every December 23 in Oaxaca, Mexico. It is radish carving contest where participants compete in carving radishes to figures that depict Jesus Christ’s birth or elaborate scenes in history.

Korean Alphabet Day or Hangul Day celebrates the proclamation and creation of Korean Alphabet. It was celebrated by South Koreans on the 9th of October while the North Koreans do their celebrations on the 15th of January.

Lame Duck Day is being celebrated every 6th of February for recognizing people whose position in authority will soon run out. Lame Duck can refer to a politician who did not win in the elections but need to stay in office until the end of his term.

Chinese calendar’s 8th day of the 4th moon, typically in May, is being celebrated in Hong Kong as Chau Bun Festival for driving away evil spirits and ensuring a smooth sailing of sea-faring residents. All the fun begins once three towers of 60 feet each covered from top to bottom with sweet doughty pastries or buns are set in front of Pak Tai Temple.

If you love beer, you will definitely want to visit Iceland every March 1 for their nationwide drinking party. A great excuse for pub crawl or runtur, this celebration goes throughout the day, giving you lots of chances to raise your glasses to local brews.

Japan’s Setsubun or Bean Throwing Day is a holiday that is held during the first day of spring based on their lunar calendar, typically around the 2nd or 3rd of February. In the celebration, beans are thrown homes, temples and shrines for scaring away evil spirits.

Nenana Ice Classic is Nenana, Alaska’s spring ice melting lottery. This is a contest of guessing the exact day and time that Winter ice is going to crack on Tenana River, making way for Springtime. Since the inception of the tradition, more than 10 million dollars of prize money were given away.

Nyepi Day or also called Silent is how the Balinese celebrate Lunar Year in Bali with complete silence. For the traditional Balinese, this is the perfect time for retrospection. This tradition is then followed by cleansing rituals like cleaning of effigies from the village temples and exorcism of demons.